Archie Manning looking forward to Eli's 'SNL' appearance

Archie Manning, father of the you-know-who boys, is delighted that youngest son Eli, the New York Giants' two-time Super Bowl MVP, has changed his mind about hosting Saturday Night Live next month.

The elder Manning says the New England Patriots-killing quarterback turned down the same offer four years ago after a dramatic last-minute drive defeated Tom Brady and his previously unbeaten troops in Super Bowl XLII. In February, Manning repeated his late-game heroics against the Patriots in Super Bowl XLVI.

"Peyton had just done it the year before (2007) and graded out pretty good, I guess -- (Eli) wasn't going to follow that,'' Archie tells USA TODAY. "I noticed they were already tearing him (in the news media) a little bit about it because of his (perceived lack of) personality ... that he won't do as well as Peyton. I don't think of it as a competition.

"He told me he was going to do it and I said, 'Good, I'll be there.' As a parent, I don't look at it like, 'Will he be better than (New York Yankees shortstop) Derek Jeter?' It's an honor.''

Archie says he and his wife, Olivia, plan to attend the show May 5 in New York.

He says Peyton also had been reluctant to perform on NBC's long-running comedy show and only agreed to do SNL after his "high school, college and pro buddies were going to desert him if he didn't do it,'' Archie adds with a laugh.

To report corrections and clarifications, contact Standards Editor Brent Jones. For publication consideration in the newspaper, send comments to letters@usatoday.com. Include name, phone number, city and state for verification. To view our corrections, go to corrections.usatoday.com.

USA TODAY is now using Facebook Comments on our stories and blog posts to provide an enhanced user experience. To post a comment, log into Facebook and then "Add" your comment. To report spam or abuse, click the "X" in the upper right corner of the comment box. To find out more, read the FAQ and Conversation Guidelines.

About Nate Davis

Nate Davis is a reporter, blogger and editor who's been at USA TODAY since 2000. He has covered the NFL since 2005. No, he did not play quarterback for Ball State. Davis' succession of our esteemed colleague Sean Leahy at The Huddle is considered a Brady-for-Bledsoe swap by most "insiders."More about Nate